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Owen Paterson has become the first cabinet minister to come out in opposition to gay marriage.

In a letter to a constituent petitioning him to support the legislation, the Northern Ireland Secretary writes: "Having considered this matter carefully, I am afraid I have come to the decision not to support gay marriage...

"The Prime Minister has made clear that he supports equal civil marriage and the Government is rightly consulting widely on this issue before making any changes to the current position."

He is the first cabinet minister to come out against the principle of the legislation. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has described it as "a distraction", but his comments reflected concerns about the timing, rather than the content, of the bill.

Mr Paterson's constituent, Andrew Smith, told PoliticsHome.

“It is bizarre that a Cabinet Minister can both praise his government's progress on LGBT equality in the same letter that he tells me he won’t support my right to marriage equality. Logic eludes this man.

“He is clearly unsympathetic to the needs that LGBT youth in rural communities have for leaders who stand up for equality. I hope the constituents of North Shropshire prove to him how out of touch he is.”

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Owen Paterson has become the first cabinet minister to come out in opposition to gay marriage.

In a letter to a constituent petitioning him to support the legislation, the Northern Ireland Secretary writes: "Having considered this matter carefully, I am afraid I have come to the decision not to support gay marriage...

"The Prime Minister has made clear that he supports equal civil marriage and the Government is rightly consulting widely on this issue before making any changes to the current position."

He is the first cabinet minister to come out against the principle of the legislation. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has described it as "a distraction", but his comments reflected concerns about the timing, rather than the content, of the bill.

Mr Paterson's constituent, Andrew Smith, told PoliticsHome.

“It is bizarre that a Cabinet Minister can both praise his government's progress on LGBT equality in the same letter that he tells me he won’t support my right to marriage equality. Logic eludes this man.

“He is clearly unsympathetic to the needs that LGBT youth in rural communities have for leaders who stand up for equality. I hope the constituents of North Shropshire prove to him how out of touch he is.”

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The Home Office has announced wide-ranging reforms of equality legislation, designed to cut what it has deemed excessive bureaucracy. The reforms include the repeal of the Socio-Economic Duty for public bodies, a review of the Public Sector Equality Duty, and scaling down of the powers and budget of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Theresa May said: "Bureaucracy and prescription are not routes to equality. Over-burdening businesses benefits no one, and real change doesn't come from telling people what to do."

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Yvette Cooper, Shadow Home Secretary and Minister for Women & Equalities, has declared "David Cameron must not backtrack on equal marriage."

The statement came in the wake of growing dissatisfaction among some Tories over the issue.

Ms Cooper said: "More and more Tory Ministers are now trying to stop same sex marriage - revealing the deep hostility to equality that remains in much of the Tory party. For the Prime Minister to give in to them now would be a betrayal of all those who oppose discrimination."

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The head of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, Sir Stephen Bubb, has warned that Government cuts risk creating a "forgotten Britain" with increasing poverty and inequality. Mr Bubb identified a "growing gap between social need in this country and public resources available to spend on it".

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David Cameron has reaffirmed his support for gay marriage, telling the Evening Standard the "time for change has come".

The Prime Minister insisted he was "clear about his views" despite a significant backlash from Conservative backbenchers.

“The Conservative Party has been on a journey to where all small-c institutions go, in a modern world, which is that if marriage is good for heterosexuals it is good for gay couples too.”

 

However, a poll carried out by ComRes for the Coalition for Marriage suggests that the Conservatives could lose as many as 1.1 million votes nationally over the move. The poll also shows that 75% of the Prime Minister's own constituents in Witney disagree with his stance on the issue.

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The Mail on Sunday reports that the Government's Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin has told Conservative backbenchers that plans to legalise same-sex civil marriages will not come to a vote. Mr McLoughlin is understood to have said the plans would be kicked into the long grass. The Education Department has said it will investigate the Catholic Education Service for encouraging pupils in Catholic schools to sign a petition against gay marriage.

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Michael Gove is to examine allegations that a Catholic schooling service broke impartiality rules on the topic of gay marriage.

The Catholic Education Service (CES) wrote to nearly 400 state-funded Roman Catholic schools inviting them to back a petition against gay marriage, a consultation on which was launched by the Government in March.

The decision follows Thursday’s announcement by the Welsh Government that it would investigate similar complaints against the CES.

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A group of influential women's organisations have joined to lobby Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke over the Government's legal aid reforms, which they say could deny assistance to women leaving abusive partners. The Women's Institute, Mumsnet, Netmums and Rights of Women have written to Mr Clarke to express their concerns.

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A group of influential women's organisations have joined to lobby Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke over the Government's legal aid reforms, which they say could deny assistance to women leaving abusive partners. The Women's Institute, Mumsnet, Netmums and Rights of Women have written to Mr Clarke to express their concerns.